Swedes suffer shut out in playoffs

BROKEN BOW—Big plays have produced easy wins for the Gothenburg football team in recent weeks.

Break-out runs, kick returns and halfback pass plays have all worked to produce plenty of touchdowns this fall.

But Swede coach Craig Haake said it was a consistent running game that pushed Gothenburg into the second round of the Class C-1 state playoffs and when he looks back, that’s probably where he should have turned more in his play calling.

“We had decent field position a couple of times and couldn’t do anything with it,” Haake said.

Broken Bow opened the second half with the ball.

After a 30-yard kickoff return, the Indians marched consistently up the field 58 yards for the first score of the game with six minutes to go in the period.

A 2-yard run by senior Josh Arnold put his team up 6-0 after a failed PAT.

A sense of urgency took over, Haake said, and the Swedes got a little rattled.

“All of our turnovers happened after that drive,” he said.

On the third play of Gothenburg’s first possession of the second half, a fumbled snap put the ball back in Broken Bow’s hands.

Mark Hilderbrand retaliated with an interception on the next play to put the Swedes on their own 13-yard line.

The series stalled, though, and Gothenburg was forced to punt the ball away again.

“We were not productive offensively,” Haake said. “We had breakdowns everywhere. On one play we’d have a missed block and on the next play our running back would slip. Then we’d have a missed assignment up front and the next play we’d drop the ball. We just weren’t quite firing.”

Two Indian plays later, Broken Bow’s quarterback Nathan Scott slipped through a couple of tackles and shot up the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown run.

The two-point conversion failed putting Broken Bow up 12-0 with 2:49 to play in the third.

“At 12-0, we were in a pretty deep hole,” Haake said. “We hadn’t moved the ball with any consistency all night. You could feel the let-down.”

And as if it weren’t already bad enough, the Indians mounted another drive that started at their own 2-yard line late in the third quarter.

Broken Bow reached midfield before being forced to punt but got the ball back on the Gothenburg 17-yard line after a fumble on the return.

The Indians scored five plays later on a 2-yard carry by Scott and the PAT kick made the score 19-0 with four minutes left in the game.

“This is a great group of kids and they played hard every play,” Haake said. “I can’t fault their effort. They could have rolled over and allowed Broken Bow another score but they didn’t. Sometimes, it’s just not your night.”

Gothenburg finished with just 97 yards total offense.

Landen Haake had 36 yards rushing to lead the Swedes, ending the season with a total of 1,180 yards.

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